English Dub Season Review: A Centaur’s Life Season One

Monster girls and friendship–a surprising treat.

A Centaur’s Life was a pleasant surprise in the summer anime lineup. I admit I had a poor impression of the first few episodes: they seemed very generic, and almost fanservicey. It’s increasingly common in anime these days to feature fanservice for the male audience, which usually involves female characters losing their clothes, or in unwanted impromptu sexual situations. After all, the male otaku market usually who ends up purchasing the most goods that lead to a series making a profit, such as DVDs and Blu-Rays. It’s usually easy to tell when a series is going to lead into cheap fanservice. However, despite its generic first appearance, A Centaur’s Life ended up being quite good.

The charm of the series doesn’t come from putting its majority female cast in situations for the audience’s pleasure but from the relationships between the cast. For example, Himeno is regarding among the cast to be the most attractive, and many jokes come about her beauty (and at times, her weight), but those aren’t the only things that define her. She is an excellent archer, and is bad with scary movies. Even if she’s afraid, she keeps going to stick by her friends. She is more than just her looks.

The girls are all teenagers and interact as such. However, not all characters have a free and easy life. Kiyoko and especially Mitama have to help out with familial duties, which puts burdens on their personal lives. Mitama especially is handled well, for she views her place as a stand-in mother necessary for the family. While she expresses frustrations with it from time to time, she doesn’t hate her younger siblings for it, and the narrative doesn’t punish her for choosing family over friends. It is quite frank: Mitama sacrifices some things thanks to her overwhelming responsibility, but it is something she decided for herself, and it offers her that respect.

A Centaur’s Life has some of the best worldbuilding for the slice of life genre that I’ve personally seen. While the general premise is ‘our world, but with genetic mutations’, it expands beyond that and gives brief scientific explanations showing how each species is different. It even takes the time to explain how clothing and prosthetics work, and how certain items are marketed towards different species. It also doesn’t shy away from complex topics, like how countries that don’t have a history of industrialization eel threatened by a global society and the violence that comes with it, and racism towards those that don’t look like what people are used to. There is even a segment dedicated to that world’s version of the Holocaust. Series that are willing to tackle heavy historical topics without waiving the horrific implications they can carry are always impressive.

Altogether, what started out as a wary experience turned into a very pleasant one. It treats its cast very well and puts a lot of effort into making them as human as possible. I would gladly welcome a second season. For anyone looking for a charming slice of life with some stellar friendships and worldbuilding, look no further.